Environmental Health

Clackamas County youths reconnect with outdoors through OSU Extension forestry education programs

By the summer of 2021, after more than a year of remote learning due to COVID-19, many Clackamas County elementary and middle school students hadn’t experienced hands-on enrichment activities and field trips that enhance ...

Mar 2022 | Impact Story

Dormant-season grazing research project reduces fine fuels in Malheur County

About 72% of Malheur County is publicly owned and federally managed. Cow-calf producers with public land grazing permits rely on the use of these rangelands. The greatest threat to southeastern Oregon sagebrush rangelands includes ...

Apr 2024 | Impact Story

OSU Extension gives Master Gardeners tools to broaden understanding of biodiversity

From tiny insects to towering trees, Oregon State University Extension Service Master Gardener volunteers are often called upon to identify the flora and fauna of Oregon. Plant and animal identification is a specialized skill that...

Mar 2022 | Impact Story

Woodland Pollinator Stewards enhance bee habitat on private lands

Pollinator health has captured the interest of the country as people become concerned about dwindling populations of bees. Oregon forests are home to an estimated 300 native bee species but there’s much to learn about their ...

Mar 2022 | Impact Story

Insect data from OSU research helps assess habitat quality for sage-grouse

The invasive annual grassy weed cheatgrass increases the threat of wildfire in greater sage-grouse habitat that spans much of eastern Oregon. Insect populations that are the foundation of early sage-grouse chick diet may be ...

Mar 2021 | Impact Story

Forestry Extension assists state with monitoring the invasive spongy moth

The spongy moth (formerly known as gypsy moth), which is defoliating trees in the northeastern United States, hasn’t been found in Oregon – but it’s important to keep the moth out of the state. This invasive insect ...

Mar 2021 | Impact Story

Tree School Online helps woodland owners during COVID-19

More than 79,000 family forest owners in Oregon manage 3.6 million acres of private forestland, providing substantial economic, social and ecological value. Surveys show that landowner goals are diverse, as are the challenges they ...

Mar 2021 | Impact Story

Extension holds free clinics to mitigate overpopulation of wild horses

Overpopulation of wild horses on Warm Springs tribal lands causes damage to the native ecosystem, primarily through overgrazing which contributes to increases in annual weeds that fuel more frequent wildfires. Additional problems ...

Mar 2021 | Impact Story

Sea Grant Extension supports creation of award-winning ocean acidification curriculum

Ocean acidification is the change in ocean chemistry due to increasing concentrations of human-created carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. One result of an increase in carbon dioxide absorbed by the ocean is carbonate, used for ...

Feb 2021 | Impact Story

Rangeland faculty help mitigate spread of invasive grasses

Invasive annual grasses are a threat to the Great Basin desert ecosystem that includes much of eastern Oregon. They compromise habitat diversity for important wildlife species such as the greater sage-grouse. They shorten the ...

Aug 2020 | Impact Story